The Heart has two sides
by StellaBlue3
Summary: When love is more than enough.
1. Chapter 1

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Bpov

Scenery streaming past me as I came up on the last lap.

It all went away when I ran.

Everything disappeared... problems, worries, all of it.

The only things going through my mind were the numbers …

_One more mile_.

_My breathing- steady, heart rate – accelerated but in line with my stats_

_Don't look, don't look, it doesn't matter if he's here or not_ I tried to convince myself, it didn't work.

… I scanned the crowd as I entered the gateway.

I could see Alice, waving from the stands where she was now making her way to the finish line. Renee was already there with a big smile and a bottle of Gatorade.

_Almost there… and done._

I broke the ribbon and directly behind me coming in 2nd was Jessica Stanley followed by Angela Webber for 3rd and so on…

Renee hugged me and went on and on "Baby, I'm so proud of you!" "You did it, all your hard work has paid off. Let's go celebrate"

I turned around hoping to see them but my gaze fell when I realized they weren't there.

"Way to go Tiger! Knew you could do it" he said squeezing me then putting me back on the ground.

"Thanks" I said removing my brother's hand from my head as he messed my hair.

My heart was racing, adrenaline pumping…

As I made my way to the locker room, Alice had not stopped talking the entire time…planning our summer vacations, going over the smallest details of parties and the venues involved. Once I'd showered and changed we were off to celebrate.

"Al- did you see them? I thought for sure they'd be here" she could tell by the look on my face and did her best not to shatter me with her response.

"Yeah, they were here. I think they're meeting up with us at Joe's"

"I didn't see them," I said dropping my head

"Well you _were_ running a marathon-Hello?" she teased

"Yeah, whatever I just thought at least one of them would have stuck around to see me finish"….

"One of them did" she said as she turned the corner to the parking garage.

"Who?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know who," she said eyeing me.

"Yeah, I do" I knew he wouldn't miss my big finish, but it still stung that it wasn't his arms I was running into at the end, the fact he'd stayed still meant a lot.

"Hey, there she is!" music to my ears, the velvet voice of my dreams and the vision that mirrored my reality. I followed the sound of his voice up to the most gorgeous green eyes.

"Hey" I said smiling as I wrapped myself around him.

He bent down burying his head in my hair. I held my breath, not wanting to exhale just stay bathed in the smell of him, I closed my eyes prolonging the moment I knew was quickly approaching. "Renee is still gushing to the crowds" he said then slowly lifted me into his arms.

"I can't stay long but I had to see you before I left. Alice, can we have a minute please" he said pulling me off to the side not waiting for her response.

He cupped my chin shifting my gaze from the ground up to meet his. "Ok, stop with the puppy eyes." I was holding back the tears, knowing how much this trip meant to him I couldn't guilt him with an emo goodbye. "I won't be gone long and you know I can't stand to be away from you."

"I know" I said, one tear slipping past.

"And just think, it's not like you won't _see_ me for a month, Edward will be here"

As I looked up into his beautiful face, I rubbed his cheek and ran my fingers through his bronze hair. _That was just cruel. Why did he say that?_ "Yeah," I said "but you know it's not the same" I trailed my finger down along his jaw and rested it on his bottom lip.

"I'll be back before you know it" a few sweet kisses a heart stopping embrace and he was gone.

"Alice," I almost whimpered as I turned to see her waiting in the wings to whisk me away

"Right here" she said placing her arm around my shoulder and leading me to the celebration.

School colored streamers everywhere through town.

Three beers and a slice of pizza and I was well on my way to a new high.

What a blur this day had become, 1st the rush from the race all the hype and then the heart fail with the goodbye, now I was up again…I hate roller coasters!

"Hard to keep up with Rose, yaknow?" Alice smiled bringing me over another beer.

"Thanks Al"

"Speaking of…there's somebody here who wants to see you" I turned around to see our friend Rose, big smiles, gorgeous blonde locks and the envy of the neighborhood.

My brother stood next to her with his hand in hers. They were inseparable and it was the best thing that had ever happened to Emmett.

"Hey girl!" I said finding my voice again and hugging her close.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him…

He was sitting in a booth on the far wall. He looked up when he saw me and nodded.

"I'll be right back" I motioned to Alice; she gave me an OK and went back to her conversation.

I could feel the alcohol going to my head as I walked over to the booth. More food was definitely in my immediate future if I planned on walking out of here.

Sliding into the booth on the opposite side I was met with that same beautiful face, emerald eyes and amazing smile which pulled at my heart.

"Hey there"

"Hey" he said moving his finger to push his glasses as they'd slipped down his nose.

"I didn't see you earlier, I was hoping you'd be there to see me finish"

"I was there" he looked down before he finished, "You were amazing today" I could almost see the blush moving across his face.

"Hey Edward, you ready for another?" Ben Cheney was standing at the table on his way for the next round.

"No, I'm good thanks Ben" he said motioning to his ½ empty beer.

"What about you Bella? Great job today by the way"

"Yeah thanks, how 'bout make it two"

"Whatever you say" he said smiling and walked back to the bar.

"You're not going to drink with me?" I said pointing to his beer.

He shifted in his seat.

Running his hand through his hair,"Well when you put it like that.." he said picking up his beer. He finished it off and swallowing hard I could see the sparkle in his eyes as he looked up at me.

Ben came back with our order and he was off again.

I placed one in front of Edward "Cheers" he held up his beer to mine and we clinked bottles.


	2. Chapter 2

Bpov

After the previous day I'd been on sensory overload. Why didn't I take an aspirin before I went to bed? …I rubbed my forehead remembering Emmett helping me upstairs.

"Knock, knock'

I rolled over and pulled the pillow over my head.

"Come on sleepyhead, Sunshine and blue skies await you…"

"Not yet Alice, I need sleep" she persisted for another 5 minutes before realizing I was NOT getting up yet.

"Ok but everyone is heading to the beach …" she didn't finish

"Don't care, don't wanna move"

"Have it your way but I'm coming back and bringing reinforcements" she closed the door behind her. I loved Alice but my brain needed down time and she only wanted the best for me. I knew she was trying to get my mind off the fact Anthony would be gone most of the summer and was secretly trying to keep me from slipping into sweatpants and buckets of ice cream until his return.

Silence came again and what later seemed like 5 minutes had actually been a few hours.

I squinted as I looked at the clock. "3:00 that can't be right" my stomach grumbled and the fog in my head had lifted, time for a shower.

A few minutes later I had slipped into my blue bikini and was brushing out my hair.

Alice had pulled into the drive, "Have you eaten?"

I didn't have to respond before she was handing me a sandwich and chips.

"Game is on at 4:30 and then we're heading over to Jaspers"

"Whatever you say Al, sorry it took so long for me to snap out of it"

"No worries honey, you've been busting your ass all year and now it's all about relaxing and enjoying some down time"

_Um, with Alice there is no such thing as down time, mkay._

"Thanks, I'm not sure I'm up for the game though."

"I think we've got enough people so we should be fine but I'm not making any promises."

An hour later we were chillin on the beach, waves crashing on the shore and the sweet smell of salt in the air.

I found a spot in the shade and spread out on a lounge, shades on eyes closed.

I must've dozed again, I woke up to Alice making her move.

"Bella, we need one more come on, I said No promises"

"Ok give me a minute, I'll be right there" I rolled over to see Edward beside me, book in hand.

"Hey" he smiled, "I'll fill in for you if you're not up for it?" preparing to remove his glasses and put the book down.

"Thank you, I'm just gonna get wet before I start, you know wake me up a bit"

"Ok"

I was out and refreshed, feeling wide awake. The game went pretty quick and the guys kept hogging the ball, go figure, so I bowed out early. Thirty minutes later we were on to Jaspers' but not before I took another dip.

When I went back for my shades Edward was gone and I didn't see him again until later that night.

The party at Jaspers was like any other except I pretty much kept to myself. Alice tried to get to me to loosen up but my heart just wasn't in it; so much to think about, Anthony had only been gone two days and it felt like a week.

Amazing how different he and his brother were, Anthony had a big heart but sometimes it seemed like it was all about _him_. Where did I fit, we'd been together for almost a year now but there were times I couldn't help but feel closer to his brother. It seemed like Edward knew what I was thinking before I did.

I knew he'd be there for me the day of the race because he understood how much I wanted this, to go out with a win. Anthony knew it was important but he'd been so caught up with his scholarship and all that was involved. I was happy he showed up to say goodbye even though we'd officially said them the night before, I couldn't shake the feeling there were things left unsaid.

"Earth to Bella" Rose came over with 2 shot glasses, "Are you with me?"

"Yes, ma'am what are we drinkin?"

"Sex on the Beach bb, Sex on the beach"

"K, Rose how appropriate, where's Em?" she pointed to Emmett who stood facing her not 10 feet away.

3 shots later I found myself out on the pier. I saw a figure sitting at the end and made my way closer to the water. "Alice is that you?" I knew it wasn't

"No, just me"

I leaned down to sit next to him and my foot slipped over the side, the next thing I felt two strong arms around me lifting me up onto the pier dripping wet as I coughed.

"You okay? How much have you had to drink?" he said wringing his shirt out.

I just looked at him, everything seemed to run together, "Yeah, too much I guess"

"Let's get you inside" he was giving me the once over, something about the way his arms felt around me...

"Can we just sit for a minute?" I didn't want to go in.

"Well, let me go get you a towel," he went to move away

"No, don't go, just for a minute then we'll go in"

He agreed and we sat farther back from the edge this time and when I started shaking he wouldn't take No for an answer and we went back in.

"You guys go for a swim?" Emmett asked shooting Edward a look.

Alice looked at me, eyes getting Big and came right over.

"Funny" Edward said running his hand through his hair, "there's a loose board down at the end." he looked over at me with a smile seeing Alice was fixing me up.


End file.
